A Kenyan police contingent is expected to depart Nairobi for Haiti on Tuesday, June 25, to lead a UN-backed multinational mission to combat gang violence and restore peace in the Caribbean country, government sources said on Sunday.
About 1,000 Kenyan police officers are billed to partake in the mission to stabilise Haiti alongside personnel from several other countries, but the deployment has run into legal challenges in the East African nation.
A UN Security Council resolution approved the mission in October but a Kenyan court ruled in January delayed the deployment insisting the government had no authority to send police officers abroad without a prior agreement.
The government obtained that agreement in March but an opposition party has filed a fresh lawsuit to try to challenge it. President William Ruto who described the move as a “mission for humanity” said earlier this month that the deployment would begin within weeks.
The United States is providing funding and logistical support, but not boots on the ground in Haiti. Benin, the Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados and Chad are the other countries that have offered to send personnel to support the Kenyan contingent.
The Caribbean nation has been beset with gang violence, especially in the capital Port-au-Prince where large territories are under gang control.